[SwampYankee]

Hi, all:

Can anybody tell me how to feel FROM THE SADDLE if your gaited colt has got a "stepping pace" or something else going as opposed to a true 4-beat "running walk?"

My guy is 6, was trained for rugged trail use before he came to me, but they didn't do much about teaching him the niceties of his "gearbox."

We seem able to hang on to the "hovercraft" super-smooth thing for only three or four strides before it falls apart into something that is definitely not a hard pace, not bad to sit actually, but probably not the RW I'm trying for. Is it OK to use this as a half-measure, or should one always return to flat walk before trying again? Sometimes he picks up the Real Thing easiest from the canter! And what does a Rack feel like? Could he be doing that instead of RW?

I don't have anyone around here who can tell me what the heck they're looking at, so any help appreciated! Young horse is a TWH with amazing elasticity and looseness.

Thanks!

[Tamara in TN]

a stepping pace is two smooth beats and the running walk is always SLOWER and four true beats


Tamara

[SwampYankee]

Slower? Wow--I wonder if the little dude is racking, then! It gets pretty zippy--I call it his "kerfuffle!"

[Bluey]

I wondered why you jumped all over me out of the blue in the other thread.
Guess this one answers it.

[Tamara in TN]

the true running walk is only 3-4 mph...the stepping pace is faster and with no real knee while a rack is the hot rod gait complete with high knees

it was said of the sons of Last Chance they were just stepping pacers unless put to Go Boy daughters ;>


Tamara

[Tamara in TN]

I wondered why you jumped all over me out of the blue in the other thread.
Guess this one answers it.

??? me
??

[Bluey]

??? me
??

Yes, I have expressed my opinion of gaited horses being an aquired taste and I guess SwampYankee blew a plug at me the first chance she got.
I didn't know where she was coming from, now I know, after reading this thread she started.
That behavior is called displaced aggression.

Very interesting what you are saying, I always wondered why some walked a bit different than others.
Just saw a palomino paint for sale not long ago that had one such different gaits.
It looked like a pacey running walk.

Thank you for your clear explanation.

[Tamara in TN]

Yes, I have expressed my opinion of gaited horses being an aquired taste and I guess SwampYankee blew a plug at me the first chance she got.
I didn't know where she was coming from, now I know, after reading this thread she started.
That behavior is called displaced aggression.

Very interesting what you are saying, I always wondered why some walked a bit different than others.
Just saw a palomino paint for sale not long ago that had one such different gaits.

Thank you for your clear explanation.

oh ok I wondered if I had posted something offensive somewhere :>

yes the Walkers were my first love and yes I know them al the way back to the Red Squirrel mares that came from KY back in the 1890's :>

Tamara

[Bluey]

oh ok I wondered if I had posted something offensive somewhere :>

yes the Walkers were my first love and yes I know them al the way back to the Red Squirrel mares that came from KY back in the 1890's :>

Tamara

Never worry about that, you are one of the most straight shooters here and honestly, make the most sense of all most of the time.

Sorry I was not clear who I was talking about at first.

I did get to ride some nice TWH in Alabama 40+ years ago, but they were regular school horses, not show horses.
I had never heard until lately about the TWH type of shows and that controversy.

[Renae]

My experiences:

At the running walk you feel like you are polishing the saddle with your bum, forward and back. When they are really moving out you can feel the hind legs making longer steps.

The stepping pace feels side to side, with a little pause between.

The rack is the smoothest. It feels like the horse is churning around you. You don't move side to side or back and forth.

If your horse isn't able to maintain a good gait spend a lot of time dog walking. That is just walking on a loose rein, with a good natural forward rhythm. Don't push or ask for speed.

[Rudy]

As with everything in horses...it depends.

Laterally gaited horses have a variety of gaits and intermediate gaits between those. The ones most people deal with and have difficulty figuring out is the pace, stepping pace, running walk, rack.

Pace: This is a two beat gait which has the legs moving in lateral pairs. The left hind and left fore will land at one time while the next beat is the right hind and right fore hitting the ground. There should be a moment of suspension between the beats. When riding thism the horse will generally sway in a side to side motion. At slow speeds it can be bone jarring since it is difficult to post to. At faster speeds it is easier to just put weight in the stirrups and off your seat so the horse can move underneath you.

Stepping pace: This is a FOUR beat gait that is not too far off from the pace. The legs will leave the ground at the same time(or nearly) but the hind foot lands a split second before the forelimb. So the left hind and left fore will leave the ground together....the left hind will land slightly before the left fore....the right hind and right fore will leave the ground together...the right hind will land slightly before the right for. You will hear the beat as 1/2...3/4...1/2...3/4...1/2...3/4. This is often a pretty comfortable gait and one horses can be prone to falling in to. This gait can be performed at a wide range of speeds from very slow(why yes, even slower than a running walk) to very quick. Your hips really are not going to be going much of anywhere but maybe a slight rocking side to side.

Running walk: This is also a FOUR beat lateral gait. The beats should be a very even 1..2..3..4..1..2..3..4. The horses head will also be bobbing in time with the footfalls. If the head is not bobbing, the horse is not walking. This gait requires the horse to pretty much use every muscle in his body and is more difficult that a stepping pace(not always). Depending on how big the horses walk is, depends on how it feels. With some horses there will be little movement on your part....others with the powerful thrust from the hind end and your hips will rotate in a circle around the saddle.

Racking: Yet another FOUR beat lateral gait. This should also be an even 1..2..3..4..1..2..3..4 BUT the horses head will NOT be nodding in time. The most you will get is the head tilting from side to side with little up and down motion. Compared to the running walk, this is a stiffer gait and IMO a much more comfortable one over long rides. The horse will brace it's back more and there will be little motion transferred to the saddle.

[Gnalli]

With any of them, a good rule of thumb is that if you are bouncing, it ain't right. The descriptions from Rudy are wonderful.

In particular, at a rack, the sound that is made should sound like "blackndecker blackendecker" over and over. Goofy as it sounds, listen to them on hard ground. When I am riding and can't see the legs, I listen to them.

Also, remember that a rack is also called a single foot, because 1 foot at a time is on the ground.

[Griffyn]

Ive always heard the rack described as "hot potato, hot potato" and thats how it sounds on pavement/hard surface.. Running walk is much as Renae describes, with more of a bum pushing motion, like riding a wave.

[Gnalli]

Ive always heard the rack described as "hot potato, hot potato" and thats how it sounds on pavement/hard surface.. Running walk is much as Renae describes, with more of a bum pushing motion, like riding a wave.

the rythm is the same whether it is hotpotato or blackndecker, so either one works.

[hurleycane]

Swamp I have been following your French threads and I can not tell you how cool it is to read you are riding gaitors!

If the cadence is broken 4 beat - most likely a steping pace (lateral) or fox trot (diagonal). The head will give you a clue - Foxtrotters peck forward. Steppacers side side their heads.

I would say the most important thing to consider about this gait is not so much what gait it is but more so what shape is your horse in? ANd by shape I mean what is the back's shape? How is the head shaped up? If not heavy on the hands - chances are you have something to work with. And most likely something you can get a little more evenly timed with time and possibly slowing up and/or slightly turning etc etc.

Relaxation in a 4 beat will generally get you a saddlerack. But if your horse is handy, you can encourage a little more reach in the stride and step up to a pretty cool 'nother gait: the runwalk. The RW is 4 beats with relaxation AND sweeping reach and impulsion. You will know it when you get a lovely cupa cupa cupa cupa foot sound as they come to ground along with a dropping (nodding down) head and neat powerful push in your seat. ANd the icing on the cake is feeling each foot come to ground right up in your chest - it is a lovely vibration which no other gait gives.

Once you feel it - you will seek it forever.

[WalkInTheWoods]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWuRt...feature=relmfu

After cantering a bit, the rider shows the other gaits and slows them down. Note the up and down headnod when the horse is runwalking. That a dead giveaway that the horse is runwalking, plus it feels like you are scooting forward and back in the saddle, not side to side.

[katarine]

That horse is nodding in his rack too...so it is not really a rack.. but what a cutie.

[hurleycane]

Great link WiTW. One of the channels I like to browse. The orange lunge in the ground video gives me pause though.

Katarine - IMO that rack is a leetle lateral and some of the "nod" in it is the way the horse changes out his fronts - he has a little hop from one front to the other. But he is definitely not doing the "down down down to the bit" nodding of a walking gait. He presents a little step-pacey but for him that gait represents all the longitudinal tension the horse can muster at this point to "rack" And for him a rack entails shortening up in length and adding torso tension.

The below link shows a step pace. It is a very compliant horse but he works in tension - so he step paces.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXNGhalGsss&feature=plcp

Note: rider bobs up and down in time with each lateral side movement. ANd the horse rocks side to side.

He needs relaxation, release and looseness.

[oliverreed]

And then of course you have your Paso Fino - two gaits, one fast, one slow, but both essentially the same - much more collected than a TWH and the gaits must be perfect four beats - I guess more like a rack than anything else, but collected. Little sewing machines.

[SwampYankee]

Yes, I have expressed my opinion of gaited horses being an aquired taste and I guess SwampYankee blew a plug at me the first chance she got.
I didn't know where she was coming from, now I know, after reading this thread she started.
That behavior is called displaced aggression.

Very interesting what you are saying, I always wondered why some walked a bit different than others.
Just saw a palomino paint for sale not long ago that had one such different gaits.
It looked like a pacey running walk.

Thank you for your clear explanation.

You have just proven you're a fight looking for an opponent. I got my first gaited horse less than 4 years ago, and am schooling my second--which is why I'm relatively ignorant about them. You have absolutely NO idea what else I've done, and I'm not motivated to explain it all to you. One thing I do NOT do is jump to jeering, labeling conclusions about other members of this board. Yes, you hijack other threads with your anti-RARA agenda which is a colossal bore.
If you have no interest in this topic, why are you here?